By Tomeka Allgood
The fear of flying is a fear that is more common than most are aware. I experienced that fear myself, growing up in a small town with the only major airport over an hour away. It was an irrational fear I had without really knowing why. Many of the older people in my life would say things like, “if the Lord wanted us to fly he would have given us wings” and “birds are the only animals that should fly.” Adulthood revealed that those people who were saying not to fly had not ever flown yet said not to do it. This was my introduction to flying. To sum it up, as a young person the advice given to me about flying was simply … don’t.
I was in my late twenties when my job needed me to travel for business. Sure I could have rented a car and drove eight hours alone but something within me said no, you are going to fly. That was when I boarded my first flight. Scared to death I did it and now I am hooked. Overcoming the fear of flying began a love affair with traveling that is stronger than ever. If that fear was not overcome, I would not have spent time jet skiing in the Gulf of Mexico or understanding what fresh seafood taste like. All of this because I overcame one fear and opened my mind to new experiences. Just think what we all could do by overcoming just one fear.
